New horizons: Shannon Jukes has come cut of his shell since taking
ona mentor as part of a class by Gea‘ Allemand,
Thinking Big
PROGRAM GIVES SHANNON CONFIDENCE AND DIRECTION
By Chloe Warburton
At the start of this term
Shannon Jukes had never
tried public speaking.
But naw, thanks to the
help of a mentor, all you
have to do is get the ball
rolling and he's happy to
tell you everything you
need to know, and
speaks eloquently in
public,
‘According to teacher
Geoff Allemand, Shan-
non had a troubled youth
and decided to return to
school at the Technical
Education Centre,
This year, Mr
Allemand introduced the
lass to an United States-
based program called
The Big Picture, which
aims to get schools to
pair students with
mentors in the com-
munity to encourage
learning and lower
dropout rates
“For each of the stu-
dents in the class, it's
been about identifying a
passion,” Mr Allemand
said,
“We try and find
mentors in the com-
munity for them to
spend time with -
they're the ‘content
experts’ and they help
the students develop
their skills
“I's all about working
with people, working in
the workplace and the
struggles and demands
that need to be faced.
“Shannon was the first
of the students who
really knew what he
wanted to do.
“He loved drawing so
we paired him with an
art teacher called Rabyn
Thompson.”
Being paired up with a
mentor means Shannon
is able to work hard on
his passion and look at
possible career paths he
can take once he's fin-
ished his schooling at
the Technical Education
Centre,
He's also been given
more opportunities than
he had before, such as
heading to Western Aus-
tralia to speak at an Abo-
riginal art school.
‘Robyn is the Koarl art
teacher at (Goulburn
Ovens Institute of) TAFE
and she's been happy to
take me under her
wing,” Shannon, 20,
said.
“Over the past couple
of weeks we've done
drawing, painting,
scraping, lina cuts and
every kind of art
“We've been going on
excursions.
“The last one was to
the ASHEletics, where
we helped paint little
kids’ faces and
boomerangs and helped
with the sparts.””
Since Shannon started
the Big Picture program,
he has seen doors open
before him and is now
comfortable with speak-
ing in public and f con-
sidering what he'd like to
do with his fueure.
He's also been given
the chance to design a
logo for the Koarie Cyc-
ling Program.
The class has been
invited to a Big Picture
conference in the US
later this year and is cur-
rently fundraising to get
the money tagether.
“Geoff organised for
me to make a speech for
the Big, Picture pra-
.
,"” Shannon said.
“I spoke about my
experiences, how 1
started, how it helped
me and my processes,
and what my goal is.
“| thought about bei
an ar tater or sous
thing along those lines.
“There are so many
ways you can go.
“There's Koorle art,
graphic art, things like
hat.
“It's opened a lot of
doors for me.
“I've been asked to go
to Tasmania to talk
about my art and Big
Picture in America has
asked me to come aver
and give a talk to native
Americans if we end up
getting aver there.”
For more details on
The Big Picture, phone
Geoff Allemand on
5833 2694,